Monthly Archives: June 2013

TO ME IT IS LAUGHABLE that folks are in an uproar over finding out that in a recent deposition/ lawsuit, famously rich southern celebrity chef, Paula Deen, is being accused of using the infamous N- word in the past and she admits it! Ha! Please tell me who has not used the N word either privately, socially or has not heard it in a Black comic’s monologue on stage? Give me a break! Lisa Jackson, a former employee at one of Deen’s restaurants where Deen’s brother, Earl ” Bubba” Hiers, is a co-owner, is accusing Bubba of racial discrimination and sexual harassment and Paula of using the word NIGGER!

PEOPLE ARE SAYING THAT, because in the deposition Deen admits that in the past, the southern cooking diva has used the word nigger or niggaz in jokes, etc., folks are going to bring her multi-million dollar empire down to its knees and eventually drive her out of business! According to one published report, she is quoted as saying “She does not condone or find the use of racial epithets acceptable and she is looking forward to her day in court.”

WELL I SAY IF “DOG, The Bounty Hunter” show is back in business on cable, after the star was accused of using the N-word over and over because his daughter was involved with a black man, I say even though she has already been ‘axed’ by the Food Network, her and her bread will rise again somewhere…! DEEN CLAIMS THAT IN ONE INCIDENT IN HER LIFE, WHEN SHE was a teller years ago in a bank, a Black man with a gun burst into the bank and put that gun to her temple! Obviously she survived, but when she described the incident to her husband, she used the N word. I say if it had happened to a black teller, that person would have probably called that pistol-totin ‘ black man a n****, too! BLACK FOLKS, WE CANNOT HAVE IT BOTH WAYS! At some point a white person is going to slip up or intentionally use that word because they hear us use it all the time, either through rappers’ music and in comedy and our comedians! Some of our comics use the N-word all the time and are forever pointing out white people in the audience in a negative light! Is that right?! Yet, a white comic better not make fun of a black person in their act, or they will be booed or belittled for having the nerve to say something about one of us!

HOW IRONIC that white people labeled us with the N word now we feel we have exclusive ownership and exclusive rights of this derogatory word and white people are not allowed to use it but we can.

I DO NOT APPROVE OF THIS WORD BEING USED BY ANYBODY AT ANYTIME! But we all know we have used the word and black folks will still use a lot of sugar and butter in their soul food recipes! Yeah, I said it…Stella In The City!

THE YOUNGER GENERATION OF BLACK TEEN PARENTS DECIDED THAT names like Mike, Jane, Joan, Tom, Ann, etc. have no real African connection. So now, young black teens have the most unique and exotic African or made up names ever.

Yet, having these beautiful African or creative names, has not stopped headlines in the papers such as SheNayNay shot Jaquila, DuShone shot Shequoia at a party, Jamal raped Jamela, Shante beat up Duqwonna, Latisha got pregnant by Kunta Kinte, Malika kicked the hell out of Shandaniqua, Tanika stabbed Tashikwa, Takesha cut Towana, Jalil stole Tushona’s bicycle and Tianna is also pregnant by Kunta Kinte.
I THOUGHT GIVING KIDS African names was going to help instill Black pride in our culture, dignity and respect for themselves and their black brothers and sisters. However, it seems to me that some of our kids have no respect for anything or anybody, let alone an African name that they probably had to practice spelling! And today’s headlines are getting worse. I look forward to the day that black children will start understanding that killing one another only communicates to white America that slavery really messed up black folks minds generationally.

THE MEDIA REPORTS MUCH TOO often the dysfunctional images, situations and conditions that some black folks are caught up in. They fail to report and virtually ignore black people in this country who are in stable families, are hardworking, fun-loving, drug-free, violence-free people, who go to church and walk with love in their hearts for God and their fellow African Americans.

IT IS TIME FOR THE CHURCHES in our communities to get involved more, like Father Michael Pfleger and take the word of God back to the streets (but first put on your bullet-proof vest) and try to turn our babies away from the senseless killing and maiming of one another. Black parents have to start giving their kids more hope, love and supervision. Our black men must start owning up to their responsibilities and start taking care of the children they are bringing into this crazy world!
PARENTS CAN’T EXPECT SCHOOL TEACHERS TO parent, as well as teach. Teachers have enough problems of their own, like, is it safe to turn my back to the class to write on the board, or which student will be coming to class with a gun instead of a book! They also have to deal with boys, who instead of dressing in nice two piece suits, wear outfits that scream, “Arrest me, I did it!”

PARENTS, IT IS TIME TO TAKE CHARGE and let your kids know who’s really the boss. If your daughter is 12 years old and pregnant…whether you’re for or against abortions, you know it is ridiculous for a baby to be having a baby. Common sense and your concern should overrule a child coming into this world through a 12-year-old vagina. Start taking charge and paying more attention to your children. Teens left home alone while both parents are out working…or doing crack…are bound to get into trouble. Parents, take charge and stop being afraid of your own child. After all, you laid down and had them so deal with it!

My humble thanks to the Coalition for United Community Action and president Carl Latimer for this fantabulous “Woman of the Decade/Legend of Print Media” award that was presented to me at the Coalition dinner June 7th at the Palmer House. The talented and gracious Cheryl Burton of Channel 7 , presented this award, and I cannot thank my sista’ enough for taking the time out to do so.

Cheryl Burton presenting my award for “Woman of the Decade/Legend of Print Media”

Credit: Chicago Imaging Solutions-2013

All of the honorees, including Illinois senate president, John Cullerton, were on the dais, as well as my my former Sun-Times’ colleague, Maudlyne Ihejirika, who got the Vernon Jarrett Journalism award.

(Left: John Cullerton. Right: Maudlyne Ihejirika)

WVON’s Cliff Kelly, did a great job of emceeing the dinner. The evening ended with a steppers’ after party… It was the bomb!

A SOUTH CAROLINA HIGH SCHOOL VALEDICTORIAN recently, while in the midst of delivering his heartfelt graduation speech, suddenly ripped up his speech and began to recite the entire Lord’s Prayer instead. Yes, I said the Lord’s Prayer…..not no rapping or trying to be clever….just the almighty Lord’s Prayer.

I SAY BRAVO,BRAVO, BRAVO, to student Roy Costner IV of the Liberty High School. Costner, a Christian, went against the school district’s new decision to “no longer include prayer at graduation ceremonies, due to complaints from atheist groups.”

COSTNER STARTED OFF HIS speech by saying: “Those that we look up to, they have helped carve and mold us into the young adults that we are today,” he said. “I am so glad that both of my parents led me to the Lord at a young age, and I think most of you will understand when I say, ”Our father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name’….”

I APPLAUD HIS courage, as did everyone in the auditorium at that school who burst into applause. I applaud this kid for reminding us that God rules and because that, in my opinion, is what is missing in the urban streets and neighborhoods in Chicago where the gangs and thugs are killing and maiming their own people in record numbers every weekend and during the week in Chi Town.

WHERE IS THE FEAR OF GOD? AND WHY are our children not in church like we had to be on Sundays? (I am not talking about the wonderful children who faithfully praise God)

STEVE HARVEY OFTEN TALKS about how his momma and dad had him in church almost every day! But look how he turned out, he respects God, human life, and doing good things. Though he once lived in a car and was homeless in his quest to be a comic. While hungry, he didn’t resort to killing and stealing….you know why? Because God was in his head and all those days of praising him while growing up.

THE ATHEISTS of the world must be in the heads of all these thugs and criminals raising hell in Chicago….so as far as I am concerned, you non-believers have done a great job in the black community because so many of our young folks believe in shedding blood and not spreading God’s word. Somewhere along the way, when girls and boys started having unprotected sex and having babies all over the place, taking THOSE babies from some those teenage parents to church to keep them hearing God’s words, seem to have just fallen by the wayside!
I AM SURE THAT COSTNER does not have to duck bullets in his South Carolina neighborhood, and I am sure the teen pregnancy rate is not out of control in his hood…but I still appreciate his reminding us that God can keep you on the right path if you just give him a chance and start taking these babies back to church and saying the Lord’s Prayer!

And, by the way, kids raised in church are not known for robbing and killing….I was made to go to church growing up and none of my siblings ever went to jail because God was always in the back of our heads saying, “Girl, you know you should not be stealing that bucket of chitlins from that store!”

JAMES HOLMES CLAIMS INSANITY….WHY AM I NOT SURPRISED! I KNEW that James Holmes, the suspect in the senseless shooting massacre of 12 people and injuring 58 others in a theater in Aurora, Colorado on July 20, 2012, would say “I am crazy!” as his defense.

After all, don’t you have to be off your rocker to kill so many? I say, “No,” you just have to want to kill for the thrill! I SAY this heartless killer should be euthanized aka put to death just like really sick animals are peacefully put to sleep to end their suffering.

Actually, animals deserve better than this useless douche bag! A dog, even if it could, would never go to a dog & bone festival and proceed to shoot to death 12 dogs and maim 58 puppies!

A Colorado judge has accepted Holmes’ not guilty by reason of insanity plea, and now he will be mentally evaluated to see if he is fit to stand trial! THE ONE GOOD THING ABOUT his plea is that now the notebook where he detailed his plans to kill and the guns he would use, can now be opened to the prosecution to be perused as evidence that he methodically planned the carnage!

TRUST ME, I BET THE TAXPAYING COLORADO CITIZENS, INCLUDING THE STILL GRIEVING FAMILIES OF THE DEAD AND INJURED, will have to sport the bill to pay for this guy’s mental evaluation. I don’t believe he is crazy, but since he is claiming to be insane….and looks insane, that is even more reason to execute him! He is of no value to anyone and studying his motives and thrill-seeking mind won’t solve or change the damage and pain he has inflicted on so many!

ENOUGH TIME HAS BEEN USED UP ALREADY feeding this monster with three meals a day and supplying him with a bed and blankets in jail. He is living better than most homeless people! I just hope this mental evaluation will not be dragged out endlessly and that bleeding heart liberals against the death penalty won’t start protesting to save his cowardly behind.

PUT HIM DOWN LIKE THE VICIOUS two-legged animal that he is. The theater goers were excited to see the screening of “The Dark Knight Rises” Batman film that fateful night, when this Holmes character jumped on stage and began shooting up the place! He is not salvageable and needs to be put to sleep!

There are women and men in prison for 40 year to life for selling just a small quantity of drugs. They didn’t get a fair shake….so why should one guy who has destroyed some families forever by his killing spree be given a fair shake? And, by the way, I don’t care what his childhood was like, or if it caused him to morph into a killer, I say euthanize him and put his sorry and allegedly crazy butt in the ground!

The public sometimes is quick to forget a tragedy once the cameras move on to the next story, but the victims never forget! The Colorado taxpayers should not let this man pimp them!

I ATTENDED THE BEAUTIFUL, UNIQUE AND ELEGANT wedding of WMAQ-Channel 5’s Deborah Brown and her handsome Knight in Shining Armor, Adam Farmer, at the Apostolic Church of God on June 1st.

It was a very spiritual afternoon and watching these two lovebirds honor each other with joy, and with a twinkle in their eyes become one before God and a church full of family and friends. It was such a privilege and a great testimonial to what love has brought together …and no one can mess with that united front! I wish this special and gorgeous couple all the blessings and good things that God has in store for them. After all, he makes no mistakes…and he ain’t about to start now!

Also, it was so wonderful saying hi to so many of my friends that I Have not seen since my HUGE ” STELLABRATION” party held last year in celebration of my retirement as a columnist with the Chicago Sun- Times! I so love and appreciate you all!

MERRI DEE, MY DEAR FRIEND AND FORMER LONGTIME BROADCASTER WITH WGN-Channel 9, now retired and still looking beautiful, has self- published her book about her life titled “Merri Dee: Life Lessons on Faith, Forgiveness & Grace,” and can now be purchased on her website and on AMAZON.COM.

I AM URGING ALL OF MY beautiful Friends to purchase and support this book about a fabulous and strong woman, who years ago survived an attack by a vicious criminal, who meant to kill this beautiful lady and did kill a guest on her then- TV show.

Merri Dee’s remarkable journey will amaze and enthrall you….and give you the strength to trust and believe that God is in control…and you won’t be going anywhere until it is the time that he has determined in that big Book in the Sky! So run out and pick up a copy…you owe it to yourself!